Meet the Parents
by the s.o.c.i.a.l disease
Summary: Every year it was the same story. She would spend weeks packing for the day she would leave for Hogwarts and Lily would sleep in and just barely make the train. It was a bad habit and she intended to put a stop to it.


1Lily Evans sat in her father's car as the Evans drove to Kings Cross Station. Today was September 1st, the first day of school and she had to catch the Hogwarts Express as she always did. She had been gone from Hogwarts only two and a half months but it seemed like so much longer. Today was the first day of her seventh year and she couldn't be happier. Two weeks ago she had received her school supply list by owl, as she did every summer. Along with that, she had gotten another letter stating that she would be Head Girl. Her mum and dad had been so proud of her and Lily couldn't be any more excited for her seventh and final year even if she tried. The only downside was that she would be working across James Potter as Head Boy. How did she know this, you ask? A few minutes later a rather boisterous looking brown owl flew into her kitchen window. It had been from James Potter himself. The letter had been a rather long speech about he was Head Boy and that she could be working with him the i _entire year_ /i . Honestly, that boy was too damn cocky for his own good. She had been annoyed at the time, but even he couldn't bring down her mood. Lily had dreamed about being Head Girl since her first year.

And yet, it seemed like only yesterday that a rather peculiar looking owl pecked at her living room window when her family was eating dinner. It had been even stranger to see said owl to have a letter addressed to her. She could still hear Petunia's voice in her head. " i _I always knew she was a freak!_ /i " They had always had a good relationship before that day. Lily could've honestly called Petunia her best friend and role model. Maybe it had been jealousy. That seemed like the most valid reason that Petunia would've begun hating her. Because she was a witch, got to go to a wonderful school and always be fawned over by her parents. Whatever the reason, she didn't care. Today was the beginning of her last year at Hogwarts. She would be sad to leave the place that had been a home for her for seven years of her life. But she looked forward to it as well. Being able to walk into the Wizarding Community as a full-fledged witch.

"We're here," said Mr. Evans, breaking Lily from her thoughts. He parked in a small space near the front of the station. She smiled secretly to herself. If it hadn't been for her and her excitement they wouldn't even be here. It was only 10:40 and the Hogwarts Express didn't arrive for another twenty minutes. She had arrived early so she could catch up with her friends and take her time putting all her things on the train, rather than rushing as she did every year. Lily along with her mum, sister and father got out of his grey car and began removing all of her luggage which included her trunk, which had been enhanced by an Engorgement Charm before her sixth year had ended and her owl, Cassidy. It didn't sound like much but it was rather heavy. "I'm going to get a trolley and I'll be back in a few moments, okay?" asked Mr. Evans, eyeing his two daughters. The 'okay' meant 'Okay, so don't try to kill each other while I'm gone.' He smiled at his family as he ran up the parking lot.

"I can hardly believe it's your last year, Lily," comment Susan Evans. Petunia scoffed slightly but quickly covered it with a cough when her mother began to glare at the older girl. Susan and Lily shared the same almond-shaped green eyes, but her mum had dark brown hair which Petunia had inherited. Mark, her father had the red hair which Lily had inherited. He was part-Irish after all. Except, he had brown eyes which Petunia had inherited. Mr. and Mrs. Evans loved their daughters equally, even though at times it didn't seem like it. "Soon, you'll be getting a job and," she paused for a moment inhaling a breath. Her daughters were growing up too fast. Susan could still remember cradling them both in their arms when they were little babies. And now, Petunia was married and Lily would be in her final year of schooling. Lily put a reassuring hand on mother's shoulder.

"Don't worry, mum. I'll be back during Christmas Break and for Easter Break, like I always do." Mrs. Evans seemed to feel a bit better, but still was saddened at the thought of her children moving out and leaving her. Petunia was mumbling something while fiddling with her wedding ring behind her younger sister and her mother. Unfortunately for the dark-haired girl, Mrs. Evans had heard this. "Is there something you wish to share?" she asked her voice very cold. She shook her head and returned to playing with her finger. Lily snickered slightly. It was nice seeing her sister get in trouble especially since she was horrid to her all summer. Petunia hadn't even wanted her to attend her wedding which had taken place in July. She still couldn't understand why her older sister hated her so much. What had Lily ever done to her? They had been best friends when they were younger before Lily had been accepted into Hogwarts. She decided not to dwell on the past. Today was the first day of her final year of Hogwarts. Not even her sister could make her feel bad, she thought optimistically.

The women stood around the small grey car in silence waiting for Mr. Evans to return with a trolley. He came back a few minutes later to find the three of them standing in silence. He arched his eyebrow but he didn't make any comments. Opening the back of the car, he took out Lily's trunk which was so light that he could hold it with one hand. For a moment Mr. Evans thought he was going crazy. Lily had noticed that her father had stopped loading her things, realization hit her, "It's a charm we used last year," she said explaining, "It's supposed to make the trunk light and from your expression I'm guessing it worked?" Lily asked a small smile on her face. He hugged his younger daughter and kissed her forehead, giving her a warm smile as if to say, 'Good job. We're so proud of you.' At this show of affection Petunia's scowl seemed to grow bigger. And for once, this red head didn't care. Her older sister had not given her any reason to try and be nice to her and now, she was tired of being nice.

The Evans family began their walk to building and to the two pillars between nine and ten. There was little to no words spoken except for the occasional 'Are you sure you didn't forget something?' Each time Lily would do her best to reassure her mum and dad that she was positive that she hadn't forgotten anything. Unlike most she didn't pack her clothes and other belongings the night before the Hogwarts Express arrived in London. She spent at least two weeks packing all her things into her trunk. With all the things she had acquired over her years at Hogwarts she needed two weeks to put everything into her trunk. The only things left in her bedroom back in her muggle home were her bed and its sheets. Everything else was inside her trunk and the best part of it was that it only weighed half a pound. Magic was truly wonderful. She almost felt bad that her sister couldn't experience it with her. Maybe if they were both witches their relationship would be better.

Her final year at Hogwarts was beginning to make her very nervous. Would she be able to keep up with her N.E.W.T. level work i _and_ /i Head Girl duties? She had never had a ray of doubt that she couldn't but for some reason the thought crossed her mind now, when she would be leaving London for Hogwarts in about thirty minutes. What if she forgot to go on duty or forgot to do an assignment! To most these thoughts would've sounded silly after a moment, but to her they were some of the worst things that could happen to her during her school year. "Lily, are you alright?" she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see her father looking down at her worriedly. She nodded and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just going to miss you guys so much," Lily threw arms around her father's neck and buried her head in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting Lily's tiny body off the floor. It made her smile at the fact that even though she was seventeen her father could still lift her up like she was only seven year old.

As her father put her down she heard a familiar drawl behind her, "Oh, that's so sweet. Why don't you show anyone that kind of affection at school, Lils?" Lily turned around and found herself looking at pair of bespectacled hazel eyes which belonged to someone she had greatly disliked throughout her adolescence. It was James Potter. Her fellow seventh year Gryffindor and Head Boy who had already changed into his school robes. She sent him a very mean glare which in her opinion clearly stated 'Get-the-hell-away-from-me.' But, Potter didn't seem to get the message very clearly. "Are these you parents, Lils?" He left his trolley behind and went up to shake their hands. "Mr. and Mrs. Evans! It's a pleasure to meet you!" he flashed them the grin which he had used on Lily multiple times to win her 'love.' Meanwhile, Petunia stared at him like he was some sort of a psychopath. James had nearly gone over the shake Petunia's hand, but her expression was enough for him to leave her alone. Lily let out a relived sigh. If James had even shaken Petunia's hand all hell would've broken loose.

"Lily, who is this nice young man?" Mrs. Evans asked returning James' smile with one of her own. Lily's jaw dropped open. Did she just call James 'nice'? That was the exact opposite of him. But what could she do? He had already made a good impression on her mum and dad, and once they made up their mind up about someone, it stayed that way.

"Er…mum, dad, Petunia," Lily glanced at her older sister and glared slightly at her, "This is James Potter. He goes to school with me," their eyes met each other for a mere moment and Lily narrowed hers. He could get under her skin so easily with just a little sentence! It would be remarkable if he wasn't so annoying. "And he's also the Head Boy with me for the year," she gave her parents a weak smile. Even if she did tell them about how much of a git James Potter truly was they would never believe them. Her parents are stubborn. She had to inherit it from someone, right? Looking over at her parents she saw that they were talking animatedly about something with Potter. She rolled her eyes. When were her friends going to come and help her? She found it rather surprising that her parents were falling for James' so-called charm. It was probably an old recycled line he had used many times. Now, they all had thrown their heads back and laughed. She rolled her eyes, this was just getting annoying.

It seemed Petunia felt the same way. The older Evans sister was glancing at her watch every few seconds, waiting to leave and get on with the rest of her plans for the rest of the day. Staying in Kings Cross Station for the half the day were not part of her plans. This was getting ridiculous! She looked over at her younger sister who seemed to isolate herself from their parents and this Potter boy. This caused her to be suspicious. If they were such jolly school mates why was Lily avoiding the boy like the plague? Arching her eyebrow slightly she mumbled a single phrase, "Odd. Very odd." Unfortunately, James heard this. He abruptly stopped describing a very complex Transfiguration spell (much to Mr. and Mrs. Evans' dismay) to politely repeat what Petunia had muttered.

She seemed almost, horrified that James was looking to her. She started wide-eyed at him for over a minute as a very awkward silence fell between the Evans family and James Potter, "I'm sorry. I was so wound up talking to George and Ana that I didn't introduce myself. I'm James. James Potter," he extended his hand and waited for her to grasp it. Petunia never did. She looked at him. A look of pure disgust on her face. She looked at him as if he were the plague. The older girl turned her heel and began walking towards the exit. At that moment, Lily felt ashamed for having her for a sister. They hadn't gotten along for many years, but Lily had given Petunia the one thing that was never returned back to her, respect.

Maybe it was the fact that her worst enemy was becoming far too acquainted with her parents or maybe it was the fact that she had, had enough of her older sister. Either way, Lily Evans had snapped and it wasn't pretty. "Petunia!" she yelled her face slowly becoming as red as a tomato. With a wave of her hand, Petunia continued walking. "Turn around when I'm talking to you, dammit!" Mr. and Mrs. Evans raised their eyebrows slightly at their daughter's i _colorful_ /i language. James stood next to them, no emotion showing except for the occasional twitch of the lip.

"It's bad enough that you haven't treated me with an ounce of respect since I was 11 years old, but you have no right to treat," she was about to say 'Potter' as she had on numerous occasions, but she wanted to annoy Petunia. Maybe even anger her, "James like that. You can treat me as horribly as you want, but you have no right to treat i _my boyfriend_ /i like this! Go to your stupid, fat husband at home! I hope you have a nice life."

The two sisters stopped moving from across the station and sent fierce glares back and forth to one another. After a moment, Lily had a satisfied smirk on her lips while Petunia's jaw seemed to drop to the floor at Lily's statement. She was furious at her for insulting her husband but thoroughly disgusted that she had a i _wizard_ /i for a lover. That was just disgusting. Petunia made a noise that sounded like something between a growl and a squeal while storming off. Lily, with an angry expression still plastered on her face gave her parents a quick hug and mumbled an even faster good-bye. While James was waving good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Evans, she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside the Hogwarts Express. He didn't dare to question her. Over the years he had seen her get angry on many occasions and it was nice to see her get angry at someone else for a change.

Soon enough the train was moving and they were one their way to Hogwarts for the last time. The Head Boy and Head Girl had reached a compartment that had been specifically reserved for them, as said in Professor McGonagall's letter. When they entered they compartment James finally broke the silence, "Lily, do you think you could let go of my hand?" The red-haired girl looked down at her right hand to see it interlocked with his. She could feel her face burning as she let go. "Well," he glanced at his watch for a moment, "The prefects should be coming soon should we get started on the schedules? I did a few of them and though you might want to see them and you might want to change into your robes."

Lily looked down at her own clothes, a blouse and a pair of old muggle jeans as to James' Gryffindor robes. For once, he had made a rather good point. Maybe the Head Boy wasn't as air headed as she had made him out to be over the last seven years.

"Oh and Lily?" She looked up at him, expecting him to say something else about the Prefect meeting which would begin momentarily as it always did. "You look nice" Lily arched her eyebrow a bit. This was not like him. She had been expecting him to say something about Hogsmeade. Maybe James Potter really had changed. Her thoughts were broken when she felt a hand on top of hers. Or maybe not, she added silently. The only thing that had changed in this situation was that Lily wasn't shouting at him like on many previous occasions. Maybe she was the one who had changed…

hr 

b **A/N** /b This may sound weird, but this was actually really difficult for me to write. Writing Lily getting pissed at Petunia was the hardest thing for me. I didn't want to make her seem too angsty over nothing, but I didn't want it to seem like she was just teasing her sister. Am I making any sense at all? Well, I tried my best. Any u and /u all comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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